Archive for September, 2012

Brian has a great interview here with Sephora on Social. They are a brand that is increasingly “social by design” – creating programs, offers and content for the social consumer.

What is said here is important – it isn’t just enough to market to this consumer, brands need to support them where they found them – in social domains — and build loyalty programs for them. And I liked the discussion about defining and finding a social voice.

How did it come to this? Rugby really has become a game that you watch selectively based on who the Referee is. Not sure if i will bother watching the All Blacks vs. Springbocks this weekend – and those who know how passionate I am about all things All Blacks know what a strong statement that is.

This test, too, is being overseen by a northern hemisphere referee, the Irishman George Clancy, a negative journeyman who has little sympathy it seems, or understanding, for the modern fast-moving, high-skilled game the All Blacks are trying to play.

Why bother. He will kill this game like all others he has Reffed this season.

Customer service performance constitutes one of the key dimensions of brand health, and directly impacts customer acquisition, share of wallet and loyalty. Gauging customer service performance used to require private feedback loops with an inherent time lag. But those days are gone. Today, customers tweet publicly and instantaneously about customer service experiences they have in any channel (in-person, phone, email, online and social media. They are also brutally honest about their feelings. Unlike traditional surveys that poll a consumer’s service experience and include a spectrum of satisfaction, tweets are predominantly binary and convey either highly positive or negative emotional views. Analyzing these posts unveils a simple and transparent barometer for how your company’s customer service is doing across the board. The Customer Service Sentiment (CSS) score, developed by NM Incite, gives companies a score that reflects the level of positive sentiment customers have toward that company’s customer service efforts. The higher the score, the more satisfied the customers are with their experiences.

While I am not entirely convinced that paper matters as much as the article suggests, there is nothing better than a good fountain pen and a Moleskine for note taking…

Paper, says the productivity expert David Allen, is “in your face.” Its physical presence can be a goad to completing tasks, whereas computer files can easily be hidden and thus forgotten, he said. Some of his clients are returning to paper planners for this very reason, he added.

Mr. Allen, the author of “Getting Things Done,” does much of his writing on a computer, but there are still times when writing with a fountain pen on a notepad “allows me to get my head in the right place,” he said.

…STEVE LEVEEN, co-founder and C.E.O. of Levenger, maintains that digital technology is better for socializing and sharing, while paper is best for quiet contemplation.